1 posts from March 4, 2014

March 04, 2014

The Dolphins settled family business, to quote the Godfather, when they re-signed Brent Grimes on Monday.

The status of their other two 2013 starting cornerbacks has yet to be settled.

Nolan Carroll, who started 12 games last season, and Dimtri Patterson, who started four games, are uncertain about their status with the Dolphins at this hour.

Carroll, a pending unrestricted free agent, expects to test free agency when the market opens on Monday, according to a league source. That doesn't mean he won't return to the Dolphins.

Carroll's agent met with the Dolphins during the Combine in Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago and the team told him it would like to have Carroll back. But that desire has so far not been accompanied by a contract offer to make that return possible.

So Carroll will shop his services with hopes of landing somewhere he can at least compete for a starting job.

Patterson is an interesting issue because he is signed for 2014. But because that is the final year of the contract, and because his salary cap number is $5.4 million, and because he has been injured a majority of his time with the Dolphins, there is speculation the Dolphins will either ask Patterson to take a pay cut or restructure (set money off into incentives tied to playing time).

Or the Dolphins could simply cut the veteran and save $5.4 million of cap space because there are no negative cap ramifications in the move.

So far, the Dolphins have not notified Patterson of any pending move. So he remains on the team at his current contract.